• Will and Catherine's little one will become part of an increasing number of children born in the United Kingdom. There were 594,634 births in 2001 and 723,913 in 2011, according the Office for National Statistics.

• U.S. state laws require birth certificates to be completed for all births, and federal law mandates national collection and publication of births and other vital statistics data. All births in England, Wales and Northern Ireland must be registered within 42 days of a child's birth.

• Each year, some 15 million babies in the world -- more than one in 10 births -- are born preterm and at least a million of those children die, according to a May 2012 report compiled by the March of Dimes Foundation, Save the Children, The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health, and the WHO. Experts representing 40 of the United Nations said that inexpensive treatment and prevention methods are available.

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• It's not just low income countries that have high numbers of preterm babies, the report states. Brazil and the United States rank among the top. One in nine U.S. births is preterm. India, China and Pakistan are also on the list; the United Kingdom is not.

• The average life expectancy of a U.S.-born child is 78.7 years. Globally, the average life expectancy for current newborns is about 70, according to the World Health Organization. In low income countries the average life expectancy, WHO says, hovers around 60.

• In 2012, Jacob and Sophia topped baby name choices in the United States, followed by Mason and Emma. Baby-naming website Nameberry, which claims to have a 50,000 name database, said some parents are going the less traditional route with Imogen for girls and Asher for boys. The site names several stand-out international baby names, including Aziza, Cai and Eluned. In England and Wales, Harry and Amelia were tops in 2011.

• The WHO reports that every day approximately 800 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. Nearly all of those maternal deaths happen in developing countries, as mothers face a higher risk in rural and poor communities.

• But, there's good news. Between 1990 and 2010, the WHO found, maternal mortality worldwide dropped by nearly 50%. For example, a number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa significantly reduced their levels of maternal mortality between 1990 and 2010. But more than half of the world's maternal deaths happen in sub-Saharan Africa and almost one-third occur in South Asia, the organization found.